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“Yes. Unless you want it to be more.”
“Why did you tell me to wear a sexy dress?”
“I wanted to have something to look at besides the deceased.”
“So I’m just eye candy?”
“The eye candy is a bonus. This is a viewing for Melvina Gillian. Does the name mean anything to you?”
“She was murdered. Her body was found in a Dumpster a couple weeks ago.”
“She was found ten days ago. She was kept on ice until now, pending the autopsy. Rangeman provides security for her son, Ruppert. He asked me to look into her death.”
“Aren’t the police investigating?”
“Yes, but Ruppert wanted a private investigation as well. I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but Ruppert is an important client.”
“Do you have any leads?”
“In the past eighteen months three women have been found in Dumpsters in Trenton. They were all robbed and strangled. They were all in their seventies. All lived alone, in different parts of the city. So far the police haven’t identified any suspects.”
“I knew one of the women. Lois Fratelli. She lived in the Burg a block over from my parents.”
“Did you go to her funeral?”
“No, but I went to the viewing with Grandma.”
“Anyone of interest there?”
“Not that I noticed. It was packed. There are a lot of Fratellis in Trenton, and there are always lots of people who come out for a murder.”
“Like your grandmother?”
“Grandma comes out to all the viewings. She gets extra dressed up for a murder.”
Ranger pulled into the small lot attached to the funeral home.
“You’ll never get a spot here,” I said. “This lot fills up at six o’clock for a murder.”
He beeped his horn and a black Rangeman SUV pulled out of a space. Ranger parked in the space, and the SUV drove away.
“So it sounds to me like I could have sent you to this viewing with your grandmother,” he said, cutting the engine, “and I could have taken a night off.”
“Yes, but then you would have missed seeing me in this dress.”
Ranger smiled. “True.”
“Why do you want me at this viewing?”
“I’m looking for a common thread. You know most of the people here. They talk to you. I want you to move around and see if you can find a connection between Melvina and Lois. Mutual friends, shared interests, a stranger who suddenly entered their life.”
I got out of the Porsche, tugged my dress down, and rearranged my breasts. “What will you be doing while I’m talking to people?”
“I’ll be watching you.”
The funeral home had originally been a large Victorian house with a wraparound porch. Over the years it had changed hands several times and extensions had been added. This evening, men were gathered in groups on the porch. The vestibule inside was filled with women milling around the tea and cookies, then quietly maneuvering their way into the crush of people already in the viewing room. The air was heavy with the smell of funeral flowers and too many overheated bodies.
“I’m two steps behind you,” Ranger said. “Do your thing.”
